A Los Angeles-based celebrity who is keeping his identity secret is suing an attorney representing 120 alleged victims of Sean “Diddy” Combs. The man says the lawyer tried to extort a payout in return for not identifying him as a sexual abuser tied to the hip-hop mogul.
The celebrity — referred to in the lawsuit as a “high-profile individual” and identified only as John Doe through his lawyers — says Houston attorney Tony Buzbee wrote demand letters in which he made “wildly false horrific allegations.” Buzbee said the individual raped minors at a Combs party and that — unless he agreed to a mediated settlement — there would be consequences, according to the lawsuit.
Combs, 54, remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied multiple abuse claims. Buzbee’s law firm has filed many of those civil lawsuits against Combs since his arrest in September. The accusers’ lawyers say that other celebrities participated in rapes and sexual assaults at “freak-offs” organized by Combs and that some victims were minors.
Attorneys for the celebrity said Buzbee, in communications, threatened to “unleash entirely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault.”
“This is textbook extortion,” the lawyers added.
Buzbee allegedly confronted the man this month with “vile” allegations. According to the lawsuit, Buzbee accused the celebrity of raping “multiple minors, both male and female, who had been drugged at parties hosted by Combs.” The lawyer said that if the celebrity did not agree to a “confidential mediation,” then the lawyer would “take a different course,” the suit claims. Buzbee attached an image of a ticking clock to the message, according to the lawsuit.
Buzbee said he and his firm would not “allow the powerful and their high-dollar lawyers [to] intimidate or silence sexual survivors” and warned that a lawsuit against the unnamed plaintiff was looming.
“It is obvious that the frivolous lawsuit filed against my firm is an aggressive attempt to intimidate or silence me and ultimately my clients,” Buzbee wrote in a statement. “That effort is a gross miscalculation. I am a U.S. Marine. I won’t be silenced or intimidated. Neither will my clients. Since our professional efforts at resolution obviously have failed, we will instead disclose the demand letters we sent at the time we filed suit.”
Buzbee’s more than two dozen civil lawsuits have, for the first time, accused celebrities other than Combs of participating in assaults during parties hosted by the Bad Boy Records founder. The stars, however, have not been identified by name.
Buzbee has previously vowed to name celebrities who he says were involved in the alleged sexual abuse. He said during a news conference in September that the names contained in the suits would “shock.”
In one federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, a woman identified as Jane Doe says she was 13 when she was raped by Combs and a male celebrity, identified only as Celebrity A, while a female celebrity, referred to as Celebrity B in court papers, watched.
The woman alleges in the legal filing that the night of Sept. 7, 2000, began with her outside Radio City Music Hall in New York City, trying to talk her way into the Video Music Awards. Later, at a “freak-off” hosted by Combs, the unnamed male celebrity allegedly raped the girl while Combs and the unidentified female celebrity watched. Combs then raped the girl as the other two celebrities watched, according to the lawsuit.
Combs’ attorneys denied Buzbee’s allegations. “Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman.”
Attorneys at L.A. law firm Quinn Emanuel who filed suit Monday on behalf of the unnamed celebrity said Buzbee “capitalizes on the bravery of those victims who came forward” against Combs to win unearned settlements from “innocent celebrities, politicians, and business people.”
“Defendants devised a scheme to obtain payments through the use of coercive threats from anyone with any ties to Combs — no matter how remote,” lawyers for the unnamed plaintiff wrote. “Defendants claim to be investigating the facts, but the reality is they are finding deep pockets and trying to smear all of them with the same brush.”
